David Oyelowo Will Play James Bond…In An Audiobook

David Oyelowo will be voicing James Bond.

If you’re anything like us you were probably about to beef about the fact that David Oyelowo is technically the first Black James Bond over Idris Elba. However, as the headline mentioned, Oyelowo will be voicing Bond for a forthcoming audiobook, so there’s still hope for a movie featuring our boo Idris.

Not that David Oyelowo would be a bad choice either, because he’s a great actor. But we just kinda…Idris Elba just gives us all the feels.

According to reports, the announcement came Thursday following long-standing rumors that Idris Elba would replace Daniel Craig when his run on the big screen came to an end (potentially after two more movies). For Oyelowo, this is a major victory.

“I am officially the only person on planet Earth who can legitimately say: ‘I am the new James Bond’ – even saying that name is the cinematic equivalent of doing the ‘to be or not to be’ speech,” he stated.

However, people (racist White people in their feelings) are not happy about this choice.

Via Daily Mail:

Born in Oxford to Nigerian parents, his performance as Henry VI drew critical acclaim, but also “very real resistance”, particularly from one academic. Oyelowo said: “He said that we open ourselves to ridicule if we allow black people to play English kings when English kings have never been black. But I’ve never seen an Egyptian play Cleopatra … so it’s a nonsensical statement

The actor received hate mail that came “in the guise of fan mail”. He said: “I had to have my agent filter mail … it was hate mail. It was: ‘How dare you enter a realm that is not yours to enter?’ One slipped through the net … it’s upsetting … I had letters coming through to the stage door.”

Excellent point Mr. Oyelowo. When is Hollywood going to ante up on a Black Cleopatra, and let’s not even talk about the entire cast of Exodus, I digress. We still have a long way to go when it comes to true acceptance and role diversity in Hollywood, and across the pond too (and the world). However, it’s not like David O. doesn’t have receipts. He was most recently highly acclaimed for his role of Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, but even before that, he made history by becoming the first black actor to play an English king (Henry VI) in a major Shakespeare production.

It has long been time for a Black Bond…and just because we’re getting one in audiobook format doesn’t mean movie producers are off the hook to follow through, too.

Better yet, how about we give Bond a cooler remake along the lines of what Shaft did in the 70s. We should be creating our own roles anyway.